The book traces the journey of Indian nationalism through the past 150 years and takes a look at its very origins. The author looks at the subject all the way to the start of the second world war. Desai provides a comprehensive study with political, cultural, economic and social perspectives. He examines nationalism through all of those perspectives and tries to give the readers an idea of the conditions prevailing at the time of the rise of Indian nationalism. He studies and analyses in great detail, the various contributors and their impacts on nationalism.